Ballgowns, tuxedos and champagne
by canny-bairn
Summary: JJ put too much effort into her outfit not to go to the party, even if she had no one to go with.


**Disclaimer – I own nothing related to Criminal Minds... what a shame!**

**So it's that time of the year when I begin writing again for University and with essays come writer's block and fanfiction.**

**I'm clearing some space off of my laptop, this is just a one-shot and by no means is the finest piece of work ever wrote, I just doodle when I'm stuck on real life work and this is the outcome. **

**For anyone reading 'A shoulder to cry on,' its' wrote up just not edited but hopefully I'll be updating soon. For anyone reading 'Rebuilding bridges,' I'll get round to it eventually. **

**Let me know what you think!**

...

JJ leaned against the railings overlooking the mansions' spacious garden, with a glass of champagne cupped between her hands.

Sighing, JJ looked up at the stars sparkling in the dark summer sky, thinking of all of the places she would rather be.

She could be at home, playing with her son, giving him his bath and reading the small boy a bedtime story.

She could be walking along the beach front at Chesapeake Bay, listening to the waves lap gently against the shore.

She could be dancing in New York or drinking in her old college town with old friends she hadn't seen in god knows how long.

Sipping the bubbling golden liquid, the blonde shook her thoughts out of her head.

A lot of hours had gone into finding a suitable dress, shoes and bags along with fixing hair and doing make up. Coming to this party had filed her with dread and anticipation of boredom, so the agent decided she might as well look stunning.

The low back and neckline was revealing yet still classy with the long draping length and the navy colour, added sophistication while brightening her already crystal blue eyes.

Her hair was curled and up in a loose bun with escaped ringlets framing her face. She felt good.

Well she knew she looked good, so that was something.

Looking out at lit garden, JJ bit her lower lip in thought.

Her live was on the free fall.

Not too long ago, everything was good. She had Will, who loved her and she loved him. They had Henry and enjoyed family time most weekends together. JJ was a liaison for one of the most elite units in the entire bureau and she had a team that she would have done anything for.

And the blonde had proven that, even though at the time she was no longer a member of said team.

Covering Prentiss's survival and lying to everyone she loved had been the breaking point of an already fragile life.

Following orders led to lies.

Lies led to distant behaviour.

Distant behaviour led to a sit down with Will when they discovered that maybe time apart was going to be the best thing for them.

Time a part led to the realisation that they were both suited to being separated rather than being together, which in turn led to the dissolve of JJ's longest relationship and the familial group she had come to rely on for stability.

That distant behaviour had also caused rifts with her closest friends. When they found out about those lies, it was the end of their friendship as before.

Garcia was annoyed, but for the sake of Henry and the fact that they were best friends the blonde quickly came to the understanding of JJ's actions concerning Prentiss. However the analyst was still a little unnerved about JJ's ease at keeping important information from her, especially information that had hurt her so much.

Reid had offered her a cold shoulder and it was still taking time to mend that bridge, even Henry couldn't broker his feelings of disloyalty.

Morgan had yelled.

A lot.

But after weeks of petty arguments and a stern talking too by Prentiss, he had ultimately forgiven their young blonde colleague and moved on in the workplace to being simply a colleague, not offering any friendship to the two 'alive' agents who had betrayed him.

Rossi was quiet. He had felt deceived, especially as he had a hand in bringing the former liaison back to the BAU only to find out she had been in cahoots with Hotch and kept the truth from him.

Prentiss was grateful for her part in her disappearance if a little guilty. The brunette continued to apologise for everything she had put her friend's through even though everyone was just happy to have her home.

Then there was Hotch, JJ's partner in crime, according to Garcia.

If anything their friendship had changed the most.

Hotch was no longer just a supervisor, or a friend she respected, he was an equal. They talked more than they had done when she was the team's liaison which was usually more than necessary, and now they had forged something stronger outside of work as well as becoming more of a partnership at work.

Hearing footsteps approaching from the main house, JJ turned, her eyes widening in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Free bar." He retorted dryly, unveiling the humour he often kept hidden.

JJ raised an eye in disbelief. "The only reason I'm here is because you turned down the invite and I had to take your place."

"And I felt bad about that." The Unit Chief replied passing the second glass of champagne in his hand over to the blonde.

JJ nodded her thanks, placing the used glass onto the top of the balcony railing. "What made you change your mind about coming?"

"Garcia." Hotch stated simply, taking a sip of the golden liquid while stepping closer to his elegantly dressed colleague.

JJ smirked, her eyes finally taking in the sight of Aaron Hotchner in a perfectly tailored tuxedo. "Did she dress you too?"

"What, this old thing?" Hotch chuckled looking down at the suit he found hanging up on the back of the office door with a pink love heart post-it note stuck onto the suit bag.

Garcia's threat was scrawled onto the fragrant paper in purple glitter pen.

"What did she blackmail you with?" JJ asked with a raised eye.

Hotch sighed resting his back against the railing. "Kidnapping Jack, deleting my hard drive, hunting down incriminating photos..."

"Huh, she has a thing about taking colleague's children." JJ muttered looking down into her glass.

Hotch tilted his head, noting the shift in the blonde's tone. "She has Henry tonight."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's already at the peak of his sugar rush." JJ scoffed lightly at his statement.

Hotch closed his eyes briefly after he felt himself linger on the way the younger woman's dress seemed to hug her curves perfectly. "God, don't say that, I dropped Jack off at yours an hour ago."

JJ laughed at the huff of regret from her supervisor before she spoke. "So why did she want you here?"

"You sure you want her exact words?" Hotch asked with wide eyes.

JJ bit her lower lip between her teeth and shrugged. "Only, if you can recall the flamboyancy of it all."

"That's a task in itself." Hotch joked.

JJ smiled warmly. "It sure is."

"She said I couldn't allow someone as beautiful as you, especially after ten hours of creating a masterpiece of an outfit attend something as boring as this party without reinforcements." Hotch replied quietly, noticing the soft blush creep over her cheeks.

JJ looked away bashfully. "Is that all she said?"

Hotch shook his head slowly. "No. Apparently I'm an idiot for not insisting on coming with you in the first place because it's obvious how much happier I am around you. It's apparent that my feelings for you have changed somewhat since we started spending more time together and I'm not only an idiot but I'm a clueless idiot that after eight years of working together you've been my rock and when you're not around I become a grouchy pants."

"Huh." JJ's eyes stunned widened as her mouth opened and closed a few times in a desperate search for something to say.

"Yeah, I know." Hotch nodded and downed the rest of the alcohol for a warming reassurance.

JJ placed her glass down and pressed he hands down on the cool balcony top for support. "So..."

"It's warm tonight." Hotch stated meeting her eyes for the first time since his little revelation.

"Seriously, you're just moving the conversation on?" JJ blurted out as she straightened.

Hotch ran a hand through his short hair. "What?"

"You're not going to expand on what Garcia analysed?" JJ prompted with wide eyes.

Hotch smirked at her helpless expression and crossed his arms. "I don't know. Should I?"

"I think it would be for the best." JJ said sternly.

Hotch tilted his head back to look up at the sparkling sky. "I had every intention of coming here and telling you how I feel."

JJ gasped slightly. "Okay."

"Okay?" Hotch asked in uncertainty.

JJ matched his stance and crossed her arms and shrugged. "Talking through this might help."

"This isn't a problem that needs solving JJ, I don't need a conversation to rationalise what's going on between us or to profile the difficulty of the situation ahead of us." Hotch insisted confidently.

JJ frowned slightly. "Maybe I do."

"You and Will have been separated three months, that isn't a long enough time to just jump into what I have in mind." He reasoned vaguely.

"Hotch, what the hell are you talking about? What do you have in mind for us?" JJ demanded unsure why the other profiler's calmness made her nervous.

The Unit Chief edged a step closer to the petite blonde, keeping his voice low as he spoke. "I only had the cab ride over here to think about this."

JJ raised a suspicious eye. "To think about what Hotch, cos I'm pretty sure Garcia's meddling has gone to your head?"

Hotch ignored her quip and continued on. "So here's how this is going to work. We're going back into the party. We'll make polite conversation, make sure we talk to the right people so Strauss keeps off our backs and then we'll edge out and get in a cab."

"Hotch..."JJ attempted to slow the conversation down but was quickly cut off.

Hotch looked into her confused blue eyes, trying to find something reassuring emanating from them. Finding restoration of his confidence from the small quirk of her lips upwards, the former prosecutor took a deep breath and began. "Once we're in the cab, I'll take hold of your hand and we'll go for coffee. I won't let go of your hand as I tell you that the last two years have been some of the most confusing of my life. I'll tell you that since the day you walked out of the BAU I had this pit in the bottom of my stomach as I contemplated a future where I didn't get to speak to you, or see you every day."

JJ blinked a few times, shocked by his admission. "I'm..."

"I want to tell you how much I care about you and how hard I'm falling in love with you, but I'll wait until you're ready." Hotch managed to reveal without his knees buckling.

"But..." JJ tensed at his affectionate gaze. "What about work?"

Hotch cocked his head to the side and smiled at the fact that she didn't completely deny him. "We'll deal with it."

"But..."

Hotch controlled his smirk at the younger woman's obvious shock. "JJ, we really should go back to the party."

"Oo-okay." JJ nodded her head accepting his arm as he led them back into the main room where Washington DC's elite were mingling.

The tall raven haired man leaned down slightly so his lips brushed up against the blonde's ear. "You look beautiful tonight."

JJ smiled with a soft pink blush creeping over her cheeks. She had been caught off guard by her supervisor's presence never mind his admission of love but as he led her though the elegant crowd the little voice in the back of her mind relented.

_She would follow him anywhere, he wanted to go. _

...

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